Prior releasable cable ties are best illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,908,233 and 3,991,444, which are assigned to common assignee Panduit Corp. These releasable cable ties provide an extension formed on the strap locking pawl which projects out of the exit of the strap channel of the head of the cable tie. The pawl extension extends from the head of the cable tie an amount sufficient to allow manipulation of the extension to pivot the locking pawl out of engagement with teeth on the strap of the cable tie and release the strap from the head.
Although the extension of the pawl from the head of the cable tie is an effective and reliable means for releasing the locking mechanism of a cable tie, projection of extension from the head of the cable tie interferes with and prevents the use of a standard cable tie tensioning tool for tensioning and severing the strap of the cable tie since the necessary abutment of the nose of the tool and the head of the cable tie cannot be accomplished without engaging the extension of the pawl which prevents free movement of the pawl during threading of the strap through the head and results in destruction of the pawl as the strap is drawn past it by the tool. Thus, there is a need for a releasable cable tie that overcomes this disadvantage.